How to tell which key a song is being played in.

[Maiko]

Ive always heard about people saying “this song is in the key of A etc etc.”

But i always wondered how you can tell if its in that key.

i understand that for example in C the notes are CDEFGAB the dm em and am.

But i see also other Keys that have these notes in them. Also is the first note being played always the root or the key?

any reply would be highly appreciated. Thanks

[Deluxe Strat]

Hi Maiko
Brian just touched on this in a resent lesson, the lesson number is epo33
im not sure if the lesson will answer all your questions or not, but it will be a good start
im not sure i can answer your questions but i do know that if a song is in C, depending on what type of song it is,you can use the minor pentatonic scale over it ,or maybe the major pentatonic scale over it. those 2 would be a good start, but there are many many scales. hope this helps
Butch

[sunburst]

I learned how to find what key to play knowing the root note of either the scale or chords be it in a key ofa (minor/major or whatever mode) Brian explains it right for anyone in question, this site has everything covered for anyone willing to research his tutorials. I personally found plenty of other in depth tutorials..May I suggest starting with learning all six open string notes first but emphasize on learning just three open strings as a beginner.. learn the low and high E and the A on up the neck first .. learn all the intervals (including sharps and flats) on up the fret board to the 12th fret, ..( the open E strings, low and high are the same notes up the frets on the neck..than learn the open A string and the notes on that string up the neck..From there, you should get a picture of where the key(root note) is found for each chord or scale.. you will also learn the octaves..etc. hope this helps

[Author]

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